Bewcastle DCNN7078 – 21st Century and “highly questionable” A sting in the tail.

55.06483 -2.11517 Met office CIMO Assessed Class 4 Installed 1/8/2013.

Bewcastle weather station is located 14 miles north east of Carlisle in Cumbria, close to the border with Scotland at an elevation of 133 metres amsl. The site is a prime example of everything that has gone wrong with the 21st Century Met Office. So poor is it that when supplied with relevant information to verify, Artificial Intelligence stated – “This context makes the weather station siting and data quality highly questionable for objective climate/meteorological purposes.” This is the quite absurd story behind a Reverend’s Tale.

The public, if asked, would quite reasonably assume there is a careful and duly diligent process behind the siting of “Climate Reporting” weather stations. The data such stations report is, after all, a major factor in framing government policy in response to perceived “threats” from anthropogenic global warming (AGW) or “Climate Change” – call it what you will. When I point out to people that the vast majority of Met Office sites are way below an acceptable standard I am frequently met by scepticism of my opinion…..until that is I post images of variously domestic gardens, walled kitchen gardens, car and coach parks, solar farms, airports, alongside greenhouses, surrounded by warm waste water treatment plants, sitting on fences – the list of such poor sites is very long indeed.

So how is it that so many inadequate sites come about? Well maybe devoted “amateurs” just ask for them like this.

“Originally we approached the Met Office to see if either they had any old equipment they could give or sell us, or they were interested in having an observation station here. As it turned out, there was a gap in their network – just here in Bewcastle! That meant they would provide and maintain all the equipment if we would commit to undertaking daily readings – which is precisely what we wanted.

Tony Eastham, Regional Network Manager for the Met Office, installed the site once he had selected the exact location and we had erected the fencing. We selected the climate variables we wanted to record, with one of the main criteria being simplicity – we wanted no electronic gadgets. The only thing you can know for sure about anything electronic or electrical is that it WILL break – one day. We wanted equipment that will keep going and going, through all weathers and in all conditions, for tens and tens of years. We also wanted to record soil temperatures for growing purposes.“

“there was a gap in their network – just here in Bewcastle! ” Gosh was there really? NO! The Met Office specifically states

“Weather stations are found throughout the UK, typically spaced about 40 km apart, allowing for effective tracking of weather systems such as low pressure and frontal movements. Their locations are carefully chosen to ensure that measurements are representative of the wider area and not unduly influenced by local factors. For instance, stations are often found in open spaces like airports, but equipment is placed at internationally agreed distances from runways to avoid interference.

Consistency is vital for both short-term forecasts and long-term climate records. To maintain this, weather stations must adhere to strict criteria set by international meteorological organisations. These standards cover aspects such as grass cover and the need for clear space, ensuring that readings are not affected by buildings, trees, or other non-meteorological influences.“

“40 km apart” equates to 25 miles, the latter unit being the preferred choice for the Met Office’s other webpages.

With the fully equipped, long term Spadeadam site just 5 miles distant (and there are other manually observed sites such as Brampton No 3 nearby not listed above) I find it remarkably difficult to accept any Met Office claim to “there was a gap in their network“. In fact Cumbria is remarkably well served for weather stations and even Northumberland sites such as Kielder Castle easily fall into the “about 40 km” bracket.

“Tony Eastham, Regional Network Manager for the Met Office, installed the site once he had selected the exact location ” So for the avoidance of any doubt, the exact location was chosen by a senior Met Office manager.

“we wanted no electronic gadgets“…. I have copied and pasted all these quotes from a 21st century online internet blog from a person claiming to be technology averse? Obviously any dislike of modern “electrickery” must have disappeared rapidly when the Liquid in Glass thermometers were replaced by Platinum Resistance Thermometers and a data logger in 2017 just 4 years after original installation.

So let’s consider Tony Eastham’s choice “exact location”.

The above image is from the Bewcastle site owners themselves as it appears (shortly after installation) on the Met Office WOW site. As I discussed in my review of High Mowthorpe perspective is everything. From this angle we appear to have a reasonably good site. However, consider their own description of a very near neighbouring item:-

“The polytunnel is by far and away the most productive space on our land, although it does require a lot of time input. In one sense it is a cheat, since it creates its own eco-bubble, shielded and isolated from the wind, rain, and temperatures outside and intensifying the sun’s heat inside. Temperatures frequently reach the mid-30s, even 40+ degC when outside it is 17-18degC. Of course it is still subject to the same cold at night, day length and sunshine hours, but the difference is sufficient to allow plants to thrive. “

From this different angle, the potentially 40 °C+ heat source (that retains day time warmth overnight and also breaks local wind speeds) is surprisingly close. In fact so close that it was Tony Eastham’s exact choice of location – hmmm. This poly tunnel is around 7 metres wide and 18 metres long and will unquestionably frequently uplift both daytime maximums and hold up night time minimums. N.B. the overall site extends to almost 7 acres so there was no shortage of places to select.

Is all this negativity toward this site just my opinion? Well I put it to AI for its interpretation from official siting requirements and likely effects known to meteorology.

“Key differences and remaining issues

• Daytime heating: Poly tunnels create a strong greenhouse effect — they let shortwave solar radiation in while trapping longwave infrared. Studies and grower reports show they can be 2–5°C+ warmer inside during the day than outside air. The plastic film and enclosed warm air can radiate/convect heat outward, potentially warming the nearby station (especially if downwind or in still conditions).
• Radiation and reflection: The translucent cover reflects/scatters some light and alters the local radiation balance. This can affect the Stevenson screen (direct or reflected solar heating) more than a dark solid wall would.
• Nighttime: Tunnels often cool faster than solid structures (less thermal mass) but can still create microclimate differences via sheltering or residual warmth. Frost protection is one reason they’re used, implying they modify local temperatures.
• Distance: At ~13.8 m, you’re still well within the influence zone. Guidelines emphasize keeping sensors away from any obstructions (including agricultural structures) by multiples of their height for proper airflow and to minimize heat/radiation biases. “

Met Office ideals stress avoidance of any nearby structures that could distort temperature, wind, or sunshine readings — the guidance mentions buildings specifically because they are common heat sources, but the principle applies to greenhouses/polytunnels too.”

Of even greater concern is the motivation behind such “official sites”. At North Somercotes I noted what is an increasingly common feature regarding new site’s owners/custodians being strong advocates of the “AGW” theory. Here at Bewcastle there is a similar “new age” philosophy of “natural permaculture” incorporated with the openly religious nature of the site owner the Reverend Robert Brown.

“What is the Bewcastle House of Prayer?

A vision, and a becoming…

A land-based Christian house seeking to find a way of living that blesses creation and receiving its blessing

Inspired by, and in the borderlands between, the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic church

Living and praying, studying and playing, working and feasting together

Laughter, music, craft, simplicity, beauty

A place of welcome, compassion, healing, rest and refreshment

Land cared for with humility and understanding”

There is, per se, nothing problematic with this association provided all meteorological matters are treated in accordance with best scientific principles. In this case they are clearly not whoever is responsible. Installing a Class 4 site “2.5 Class 4 (additional estimated uncertainty added by siting up to 2 °C)” (that really should be rated Class 5) so recently is inexcusable and simply should not happen. Every other branch of science, technology and engineering seeks to ever improve, whilst meteorology and climate science seems to perversely hang on to antiquated systems such as naturally aspirated Stevenson Screens in highly compromised locations. This location gets nowhere remotely close to representing the wider area.

But then there is the sting in the tail……..all of the above may seem to demonstrate a “cottage industry” of well meaning dedicated amateurs at the site being guided by a benevolent Met Office until the credentials of the Reverend Brown are known. He has run a long term consultancy as a Hydrologist, formerly Principal Hydrologist at WS Atkins, formerly “Flow Regimes Hydrologist “at UK Centre for Hydrology (UKCEH) and with both MSc in Hydrology and PhD in Theology. This is not some well meaning amateur but someone who should be highly qualified in meteorology and fully conversant with accurate scientific rigour.

I do not normally question the credentials of such private site owners and even here I positively state that the responsible authority is the Met Office. However, I personally feel it is not just happenstance that a “gap” needed filling despite nearby existing stations, that the request was made by someone not already well known to the Met Office, the site was “exactly” chosen to be allegedly”unaffected” by extraneous heat sources when it very obviously would be.

Most importantly it is worth noting that these climate reporting sites feed into the compilation of “climate averages” for closed non existant stations that the Met Office currently declines to advise how they are compiled. For example Newton Rigg is in Cumbria – are its fabricated figures in part derived from sites such as Bewcastle with their known wide error margins in representing their wider environment?

I shall finish with Grok AI’s estimation of Bewcastle.

Source: https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2026/05/06/bewcastle-dcnn7078-21st-century-and-highly-questionable-a-sting-in-the-tail/